Andrew Fairlie steps down from Gleneagles due to terminal illness

Scottish chef Andrew Fairlie is retiring from his restaurant at Gleneagles due to ill health. Andrew has been fighting a brain tumour since 2005 but was told in June that it was terminal despite years of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. The award-winning chef is now stepping down to spend more time with family and friends, including his partner Kate White, who he is due to marry soon. The kitchen at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, which is number 12 in The Good Food Guide’s Top 50, will be taken over by Andrew’s head chef Stevie McLaughlin.

Bristol’s Wallfish Bistro has closed and merged with a neighbouring restaurant in Clifton Village. Joining forces with Wellbourne, which is run by ex-Dabbous chefs Ross Gibbens and Michael Kennedy, the newly named Wallfish & Wellbourne Bistro will open on November 14. The kitchen will be overseen by the Wellbourne chefs, with additional dishes from Wallfish Bistro’s Seldon Curry. As well as an oyster bar counter, the menu will be a culmination of favourites from both restaurants and dishes will include crab thermidor vol au vents and bacon chop with Wallfish brown sauce, Cacklebean egg and sour cabbage. Wellbourne also has restaurants in London's White City and Spain.

Aiden Byrne has stepped down as chef director of Manchester restaurant 20 Stories after just eight months. Byrne left his position at Manchester House last year to head up the kitchen at 20 Stories. Manchester House closed in October along with sister restaurant Artisan, both businesses going into administration. Byrne, who also owns the Cheshire pub The Church Green at Lymm, has yet to confirm his next move.

Executive pastry chef Daniel Pearse moves from Hakkasan to The Savoy

Former Hakkasan executive pastry chef Daniel Pearse has joined London’s Savoy hotel in the same role. Pearse, who has also worked at the Mandarin Oriental and the Langham replaces Ludwig Hely. The appointment follows the arrival of the hotel’s new executive chef, Fabrice Lasnon, who previously worked in a number of luxury hotels around the world including Kempinski in Istanbul and La Mamounia in Marrakech.